The government on Monday said the city's investment-for-residency scheme had attracted nearly 3,200 applications over the past two years, with inflows expected to amount to HK$95 billion.

Officials also said the scheme's rules were being updated to allow applicants to use eligible private holding companies for investment assessments and that they were effective from the start of this month.

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (New CIES) was launched in March 2024 to lure global high-net-worth individuals and business elites to relocate to Hong Kong by making capital investments.

In a statement, the government noted that over half of the applicants, or 1,762, had already completed investments and received "formal approval" from the Immigration Department as of the end of last month.

While most of the verified capital, HK$55 billion, had poured into authorised funds or equities, about 10 percent of it had been invested in the CIES investment portfolio run by Hong Kong Investment Corporation, which supports the city's long-term economic and tech developments, it added.

"These funds will be strategically deployed across a range of investment themes, including AI-enabled applications, sustainable technologies, materials science and biotechnology," it said.

The government investment promotion arm, InvestHK, also noted that the 2025 batch of capital from the portfolio would start making investments amounting to HK$3 billion this quarter.

Separately, the government said, the scheme has been further updated to allow New CIES applicants to use eligible private holding companies that had been set up in less than six months for investment assessments – without a minimum incorporation period.

The changes had been made taking market demand into consideration so that there would be greater flexibility for investors to allocate their assets.

"Upon arriving in Hong Kong, investors under the New CIES will not only bring substantial capital inflows but also generate ripple effects across real estate, dining, retail, education and lifestyle services," Alpha Lau, InvestHK's director general, said in the statement.

"This will stimulate both high-end and daily consumption, subsequently creating economic benefits for local small and medium-sized enterprises and professional service sectors."

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok said the department was pleased to see a "positive market response" to the scheme.

"Together with other admission schemes, these programmes work in synergy to attract talent and capital from around the world, supporting Hong Kong's sustainable development and long-term competitiveness," he said.

The scheme allows high-net-worth individuals and their families to obtain residency in the SAR when they make investments of at least HK$30 million in local funds, stocks or properties, among other vehicles, with HK$3 million needing to be placed in the CIES investment portfolio.

Earlier tweaks to the scheme also included easing property purchase rules as part of efforts to boost the real estate market growth in September.


Edited by Tony Sabine